Andretti Autosport: St. Pete race report

Ryan Hunter-Reay tied his career best finish on the streets of St. Petersburg with a second-place finish.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 28 DHL Honda

- Started from the third position from his "home" race

- Tied his career best finish on the streets of St. Petersburg with a second-place finish

Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport Honda

Photo by: Martin W. Spetz

" It was a good day. We definitely hung in there. Things were a little strange at times, not really sure where we were position wise. But we kept pushing 110%, had a good little fight with Helio (Castroneves) there, got by him. Will (Power) was really good; we were matching each other at the end, lap to lap, so I was pushing as hard as I possibly could - I couldn't catch him. Good points for the No. 28 DHL Honda. We're happy to start the season out this way, so I'm ready to go to Long Beach."

Carlos Muñoz, No. 34 Cinsay Honda

- Highest qualifying rookie at P7

- Was seen as high as sixth place

- Caught up in the restart incident on Lap 83, forced to come into pits for front wing and tires

- Finished in the 17th position

"Our race was good until I crashed on the front straight; I'm don't really know what happened, a guy in front of me wrecked and then I couldn't really do anything about it. I think I was doing quite good before staying in the top 10 looking forward to a top-10 finish. It's racing. I learned a lot today, but it's just a shame I couldn't do much after the crash. Thanks to my Cinsay crew for working hard all weekend."

James Hinchcliffe, No. 27 United Fiber & Data Honda

- Started from the 19th grid position

- Endured mechanical errors that prevented him from advancing throughout the race

"At the end there, the United Fiber & Data car got even better. We were going to be so strong at the end of this race if we had been in contention. You could see at the end there we were keeping pace with some of the guys; it's unfortunate to see it like that. More yellows might have helped keep us on the lead lap, maybe. We could have taken advantage if some more guys have problems with their tires in the end. At the end of the day, that is the way it goes.

I think getting to still run and know what the chassis was going to do and learn a little bit about the tires again helps. We have another street race in two weeks, so all of this stuff still applies in Long Beach, and that is what we have to look at as a positive to come from this."

Marco Andretti, No. 25 Snapple Honda

- Began his ninth Grand Prix on the streets of St. Petersburg (from an Indy car) from sixth place

- Was forced to retire early from the 110-lap event after being caught up in a restart incident

- Emerged from his car uninjured

On if he felt it was an accordion effect: "Yeah it's hard to see because I was pretty far back, but Will just stopped. Once you go, you gotta go. It was a bit of an accordion effect, and I just got caught up. That's what happens when you're in the back, so I've really got no one to blame but myself."

On the comment that the flag man allegedly waved the green flag early: "That's why you don't have an acceleration cone. I'm not complaining, but the leader should dictate it. He probably questioned himself because he might have gotten penalized or something, but you should penalize the leader, he can go when he wants."